Although windows at the compound have been smashed, most of the
equipment that had been left by the Americans remained untouched,
according to an AP journalist who was invited by the militants to
have a look around.

A commander of the militia group said that his forces have been
in control of the former embassy since last week.

A poorly-filmed video has appeared on YouTube showing men, who
may or may not be the Islamic militants, fooling around by the
swimming pool, while some of them perform reckless dives from an
upper balcony into the shallow pool.

Safira Deborah, the US Ambassador to Libya, said the video
appeared to have been filmed in the residential annex of the
embassy.

A commander of the Dawn of Libya told AP that his forces had
seized control of Tripoli, the Libyan capital, and its strategic
airport after weeks of fighting with a rival militia, which he
said his forces took over the embassy compound from.

The Dawn of Libya is deployed around Tripoli and has asked
foreign diplomats to return now the fighting has largely stopped.

The US embassy was evacuated in July, as a last-minute ceasefire
between warring militias collapsed and the capital fell into
complete chaos.

The US embassy is located near the airport, which marked the
frontline between two rebel groups. For weeks the staff sheltered
in concrete bunkers while 90 heavily armed US Marines fended off
any would-be attackers. However, the embassy did not take any
direct hits.

The evacuation of the embassy in Tripoli was soon followed by EU
embassies and brought back memories of the death of Chris
Stevens, the last US ambassador to Libya who died along with
three of his staff when the US consulate in the eastern Libyan
city of Benghazi was overrun by militia two years ago.

Libya has descended deep into chaos since the overthrow of
Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. A student who joined the uprising
against Gaddafi in 2011 told The Guardian: “This is not what
I fought the revolution for. We fought for peace and instead we
get this.”